As of July 9, Taguig City has recorded a total of 1,450 confirmed COVID-19 cases—and over 300 of these came from an unnamed construction site in Bonifacio Global City (BGC).

In an official statement, mayor Lino Cayetano revealed that Barangay Fort Bonifacio, where BGC is located, has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. This is because 327 out of 691 workers in a construction site tested positive for the virus, which immediately put the site on lockdown.

“A localized lockdown immediately stops the spread of the virus and allows us to conduct an investigation unimpeded. In a matter of 24 hours, we were able to close and quarantine the BGC construction site, begin contact tracing, testing and treatment,” stated Cayetano.

According to the statement, localized lockdown “may mean imposing a quarantine on a house, a unit, a building or a street.”

Earlier in June, the construction site was placed on lockdown after receiving positive results from the tests of six out of 27 construction workers. They “reportedly had fever that prompted the city’s Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CEDSU) to test them for the coronavirus, dengue fever, typhoid fever, and Zika virus.”

Four areas in Lower Bicutan also recorded 111 positive cases out of the 2,104 tests that the local government unit (LGU) has conducted so far. In response, the areas are put on a localized lockdown as well and contact tracing is in place.

Through the statement, the mayor also said that the spike of cases to a total of 1,450 can be attributed to the aggressive testing and contact tracing in the areas on localized lockdown. The LGU also noted that they will continue to do aggressive testing, with 10 percent of its population targeted to be tested before 2020 ends.

“We are one of the cities leading in testing and having done more than 12,000 tests and having covered 2.16 percent of the population. The strength of the Taguig testing program is the wide infrastructure that includes 31 testing centers, two drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites, with 36 contact tracing teams and a strong partnership with the national government testing facility,” said Cayetano.

Currently, the city has five quarantine facilities in operation and will soon have a new one at the Lakeshore area in Barangay Lower Bicutan.

With the rising number of cases in the area, Taguig residents are also urged to take the city’s COVID-19 self-assessment tool.

Header photo from Inquirer.net

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